Personal Space
by Rena46
Summary: Some secrets are too important to the people around you to keep it secret. jibbs
1. Investigating in her private life

Personal Space

_Chapter 1__ Investigating in her private life_

To Gibbs it was a morning like any other. He was sitting at his desk, watching the entering agents of the other teams, occasionally greeting one of them and otherwise staring grumpily straight through them. 

When Ziva entered she looked tired but Gibbs didn't feel the urge to ask why. "'Morning…" The woman mumbled and sat down behind her desk, starting immediately with her paper work.  
A little later McGee stepped out of the elevator. He had obviously paid a short visit at Abby's lab because Ziva just looked up but didn't greet him, so Gibbs assumed they have met earlier.  
After two agents who Gibbs had never really seen in the bull pen, the team leader looked up to the second level because of a motion he had recognised as Jen entering her office.  
Tony was the last to enter and he quickly brought some excuses to which Gibbs didn't even listen, sat down and started observing Ziva as usual. 

The silver haired man sighed, grabbed some files with the reports which belonged to them and walked towards the staircase and Tony gave him a short glance before he returned to the report of the case he was working on.  
As usual Gibbs didn't wait for Cynthia to announce him to Jen and just entered, finding her putting on some make-up. She jumped at the sound of the door and almost dropped the little box she was holding when she looked up at Gibbs.  
"You do that on purpose, don't you?" she asked and nodded towards the door. Gibbs smirked and nodded.  
"Gives me the feeling of being important." He answered with humour in his voice. Jen gave him a killing glance and placed the make-up back in her drawer.

"What can I do for you, Agent Gibbs?" she asked and leaned back in her chair.  
"You wanted the reports of the last three cases, here are the first two." He said and placed them on her desk. Slowly Jen leaned forward again and brushed her hair out of her face to read the first page. Just then he saw the reason why she was putting on make-up in her office. The area around her cheekbone had a bruised bluish green colour and as soon as she remembered it, she let her hair fall back down over it.

"What's that?" Gibbs asked in a low voice which was always the sign for Jen that the conversation was about something personal. "My desk, the reports, my desk-lamp, what are you talking about?" she asked, looking up from the files and trying to leave her face expressionless.  
"You know what I mean." Gibbs replied and reached out to brush her hair back again but Jen pulled back.  
"Don't you think that this is personal and none of your business, Agent Gibbs?" she asked sternly but Gibbs shook his head. He didn't say anything just kept on observing her very closely. 

"I took a bath yesterday evening and slipped on the wet floor, I fell against the door frame and got that bruise!" she finally said titled her head to a side.  
"I see you still know my rules." He just said but didn't move an inch. "Always be precise when you lie. That's what I taught you." He added and she rolled her eyes.  
"I'm sure you have a job to do and don't get paid for investigating in my private life, do you?" she asked defiantly and got up, signing him to leave.

"You know I won't leave now, Jenny. What happened?" he asked calmly and went around her desk until he stood beside her. "That is really none of your business what I do and with whom I do that." She said and sat down again, hoping he would leave it at that. But she knew he wouldn't. He leaned against her desk and looked down to her.  
"So a person did that. Your current lover?" he asked and Jen closed her eyes, supporting her head in her hands.  
"What if he was my fiancé?" he asked and Gibbs nodded.  
"He is not, so your lover. Did he hit you?" For a moment time seemed to be standing still. Then Jen looked up at Gibbs with a tear in her eye.  
"Yes, he did! We had a fight!" she admitted and got up again, rounding her desk and walking to the couch in the corner of her office.

"Now you know, is it possible that you leave now?" she asked with a slightly shaking voice.  
"He didn't do that for the first time. Usually you can cope with something like that much better if it just happened once." He said in a low voice and with a bitter chuckle Jen wiped the tear from her face.  
"Stop it! Damn it, stop analyzing me! I'm not a suspect, I'm your boss!" she exclaimed and Gibbs nodded.  
"Right, I'll leave." He said and went towards the door. Shortly before he opened it, he turned towards her once more. "No one has the right to harm you. And no fight can justify that." He said and left Jen alone in her office. 

Tell me what you think! Some more chapter are to come, some are finished but some aren't if you have ideas how to continue, feel free to tell me!


	2. The truth

_Chapter 2__ The Truth_

The day went by without the distraction that Gibbs hoped it would bring.  
The talk he had with Jen still lingered on his mind and although he tried to concentrate on work every once in a while he had to look up to the second level. He was sure his team knew something was on his mind but no one dared to ask because his mood was quite bad after he returned from the Director's office and no one wanted to be fired for simply upsetting him.  
They all left a little earlier than usual and Gibbs observed how quick Tony collected his stuff and left with a short comment to Ziva and smart retort from her. Gibbs saw Jen leaving her office and the glance she threw at him while walking to the elevators told him she also thought about the conversation earlier. For a moment Gibbs thought about following her and talking to her once more but Ziva gave him a suspicious glance before reaching for the last file to be worked on. 

"I'm almost done, you can leave if you want to, no need to wait for me." She said but Gibbs shook his head, already having other plans. He waited until she was gone as well until he took his jacket, switched off the lights and went down to his car. 

About twenty minutes later he stood in front of a door that was not his own. He knocked and soon a maiden opened the door. 

"Yes?" she asked and gave Gibbs an expecting glance while he tried to look past her into the house.  
"I want to talk to Jen." Gibbs said when the woman showed no intention to let him in.  
"Ms Shepard doesn't want to be disturbed." The maiden said and was about to close the door again when Gibbs stepped forward.  
"I don't want to disturb her, I want to talk to her!" he hissed and by then he heard footsteps from the upper level and Jen appeared on top of the stairs. 

"Neomi, I told you to lock the door. I don't want any…Agent Gibbs!" she stated when she saw the intruder. The maiden shook her head in disbelieve of what had happened.  
"I'm sorry, but he just entered, I couldn't…" Jen nodded and slowly came down the stairs.  
"I know, he never takes care." She said and finally stood where the maiden stood before, leaning against the doorframe and returning his stare. "What can I do for you, Agent Gibbs? And if you want to continue our talk from this morning I have to ask you to leave directly!" she stated coldly, no emotion reflected on her face.  
"Don't play dumb, Jen. You know why I'm here." He said in a low voice also leaving his face blank for her to read.  
"If I really do, this conversation is over before it even started!" she said and tried to shove him backwards out of the door. Having expected her to try that Gibbs took another step forward and she bumped into him. He slung his arm around her to keep her steady and pulled her up a little so she didn't drop to the floor when she lost her balance.  
"I just don't want you to get hurt." He whispered and held her close to him for a little longer than really necessary before he released her from his grip.  
"As you saw this morning you are too late for that…" she said slowly and took a step away from him, just as another man appeared near the stairs.

"Jennifer? Who's there?" he asked and Jen closed her eyes shortly before turning.  
"One of the agents working for me. I'll be right back..." She replied and turned back to Gibbs. "Is there anything else you wanted, Agent Gibbs?" she asked but Gibbs gave her a meaningful glance before he turned and left. 

Slowly Jen closed the door behind Gibbs. She knew he was just worrying about her but she couldn't let him do so. They've been too close when they had been working together, when he started to care for her again, see her as a women and not as his boss, she didn't know how she could run the agency then. 

She turned to see that Jonathan, the subject of the war she and Gibbs were fighting, still standing on top of the stairs. When she climbed the stairs again, his hard features didn't soften and he didn't extend an arm to welcome her. She walked directly past him but he grabbed her arm.  
"Who was that?" he asked coldly and Jen looked him directly into the eyes.  
"The one I told you he is. An agent working for me." She replied and pulled her arm from his grip.  
"Why was he here? You have something going on with him?" he asked directly and Jen chuckled.  
"No. I have nothing going on with him." She replied without looking back at him. 

Without any warning he grabbed her again and slammed her against the wall. She groaned in pain and looked up at Jonathan.  
"Why do you lie to me?" he asked lowly and threatening, his hand at her chin. She didn't move and just stared back into his eyes.  
"What gives you the impression I do?" she asked back and all of the sudden felt the impact of his hand on her cheek. The force he used made her temple hit the wall and start bleeding. She lifted a hand to feel the cut from which a burning pain spread through her head. Jonathan didn't show any regret or pity. 

With a low grunt he pushed her away from his harshly and she stumbled along the floor until she hit the opposite wall and slid down along it to sit on the floor. Coldly he looked at her and then smiled a little. "I hope this 'Agent working for you' is worth all that!" he snapped, grabbing his coat and leaving without another word. 

For some moments Jen remained on the floor, staring down at the carpet underneath her legs. "He is…" she breathed before pushing herself up and slowly walking over to the study.

So, here's another chapter! I hope you like this one as much as the first one, so continue to review, pleeease. There's onemore to follow and then we'll see where your inspirations lead me! So Tell me!


	3. The breakdown

_Chapter __3 The Breakdown_

Usually working in his basement made Gibbs tired, or at least the dim light did. The air was thick with sawdust and the smell of bourbon and sweat was present as soon as one stepped through the door to the basement. For some reason he forgot the time. Once he was pushing the tools over the wood nothing else seemed to matter.

Tonight he sank so deep into his task that he didn't even notice the rain outside. It was pattering against his small window and covered the noises the person standing on top of his stairs caused while entering his house.  
Feeling observed by that person he stopped shortly but didn't take his eyes off the wood in front of him. From the corner of his eye he could see the hand holding on tightly to the handrail that guided the way down the stairs and he could hear the clicking of the shoes when they made their way towards the bottom of the stairs.

He wouldn't react even if he knew she was there. She knew that for sure when she walked over to his workbench, her eyes fixed onto his back. For a moment she stayed there, leaning against the wood before she pushed herself towards him and lightly placed a hand on his shoulder.  
He didn't stop working although she had his full attention when she stepped closer, her body now searching for as much contact as possible without limiting his movements.

"I'm sorry…I should have told you…" she whispered and her voice mixed with the smell of alcohol made him now put his tool down and turn to her.  
"Jen…You're drunk…" he replied and grabbed her by her shoulders, not as strong as Jonathan would have done but still he held her in a short distance. She didn't look him into the eyes and slowly lifted a hand to trace the line that the sweat had left while running down his neck.

"You know why he still calls me 'Jennifer'?" she asked with a light smile on her lips but her eyes filled with tears with each word she was saying. Gibbs shook his head.  
"No, Jen and I don't wanna know. Like you said, it's none of my business." He said sternly but the woman chuckled.  
"You do wanna know… I didn't allow him. I couldn't allow him to get that close to me…I simply couldn't…" she said lowly and lifted her eyes to meet his. She suddenly wiggled out of his grip and stepped towards him again, her hands against his chest.  
"Because of you…Since we broke up...I couldn't find anyone…who was able to distract me from you…" she almost cried but he just wrapped his arms around her. He held her tightly while she was struggling against him.  
"I wasn't able to…have any other relationship…" she mumbled against him, her movements slowly weakening.

"Jenny…You're drunk…" he whispered again as if to remind himself not to believe in what she said.

After some time her breath evened and she stopped sobbing in his arms.  
He still held her close until he was sure she was asleep and picked her up, carrying her up the stairs and into his bedroom. Her hair as well as her clothes were wet form the rain outside and stuck to his chest and arms.  
Carefully without waking her he undressed her to her underwear and placed the wet clothes on a chair beside the bed, brushing lightly over the bruised spots she had managed to hide from him during work and shaking his head about how she could stay with someone who treated her that badly.

Then he slowly he placed his blanket over her and put two aspirins and a glass of water on the nightstand before he left the room.

Okay now,...From now on things might go a little slower. This was all I had written and I'll try to go on with your help! BUT still I need your ideas! Maybe your reviews will also speedme up a little! So REVIEW!! Pleeeease!


	4. The morning after

_Chapter 4 The morning after_

When Jen woke, she remembered everything. She knew where she was, how she got here and why she got here. Taking a deep breath she remembered the soft touch of Gibbs' hand, gentle as if he was afraid of hurting the already bruised skin even more. Shaking her head a little at the direction theses thoughts were leading her to she sat up. At the sharp pain radiating through her head she moaned softly and covered her eyes from the light shining through the half open curtains.

Blindly she reached to the nightstand where she knew Gibbs' alarm clock stood. She wanted to know how late it actually was but what she found there wasn't the clock but the glass of water. Slowly she opened her eyes and found the aspirins there which made her smile. He seemed to know the alcohol and its effects on her. Jen quickly swallowed the aspirins and leaned back, closing her eyes once more to let them work. She sank back into the pillows and evened her breath, slowly drifting into a light slumber again.

For a moment Gibbs stood in front of his own bedroom, took a deep breath and finally opened the door. Silently he stepped in and looked at the woman in his bed. She was lying totally still and he thought she was still asleep but a look to his nightstand told him she had been awake and taken the pills. With a sigh Gibbs stepped closer and sat down at his bedside.  
"When you wake up, we'll have to talk…" he whispered and winced when he felt her hand softly sliding over his. When he looked at her he found her green eyes open and fixed on his face while she carefully stroked along his fingers.  
"I thought you were asleep…" he said and Jen chuckled. "I know…" she said and sat up a little more.

Looking down at the blanket she took a deep breath before she finally met his eyes once more.  
"Jethro, I know what you think about apologies, but I have to apologize right now." She started but Gibbs shook his head.  
"You needed someone to talk and I'm quite glad you didn't go to …I don't know, DiNozzo?" he cut in and was about to get up when Jen grabbed his hand to keep him back.  
"It's still my opinion that it was none of your business but I shouldn't have treated you like I did." She explained and sighed deeply when he just nodded shortly.

To her surprise he sat down beside her again, not looking at her but still he stayed with her. "Just like you said, I'm an agent working for you...Nothing more. It shouldn't bother me..." He stated and she could hear the hurt in his voice. Instantly she moved closer to him, not really knowing if he'd appreciate it right now but she put an arm around him, holding his back against her.  
"You know that this is not true." She whispered.  
"You are my friend, my consoler. You've taught me everything I know." She started but for a moment Gibbs wasn't sure if there was more to come.  
"Everything...not only about work..." she added and he could hear her smile a little.

"I feel honoured that you care that much for me, although you'd never admit that, but..." she stopped, loosening her grip on him, pulling back from every contact. "This is something I need to do alone!" she finished and rolled of the bed on the other side. Silently she grabbed her clothes and although they still were slightly damp, she pulled them on.

Gibbs still hasn't moved from the spot on the bed. "I'm sorry..." she just whispered before she left and he took a deep breath.

I'm so sorry that it took me taht long to go on with this one, but there's so much happening here...Anyways, what do yoou think about this one? Shall I go on or shall I ddrop that one? And if yes, how shall I go on? I need you, guys! ;)


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